Missile dropping device



Dmc. Z, 'i949 FH l-ilscgluER 2,491,730

MIS S ILE DROPPING DEVICE Filed May 2, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 j vwo/wrm EVENE/Wax A44 smb-R @M www e 29, 1949 F. H. HAGNER 2,419.1730

MISSILE DROPPING DEVICE Filed May 2, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Dec. 20, 1949 "UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE l Claim.

This invention relates to angle-determining devices, and has ier one of its objects the production of a simple and eiiicient means for determining the angle of an object or other element against which it may abut relative to the true horizontal or vertical lanes.

A further object of this invention is the production of an instrument comprising a simple and emcient means for releasing a missile from a supported position to drop said missile upon a recording element and thereby facilitate the measurement of the degree of deviation of the instrument from a true vertical or horizontal position at the time of dropping the missile.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will appear throughout the following specification and claim.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a side elevational View of the angledetermining device;

Figure 2 is a side elevational View of the device taken at righteangles to Figure l, the lower portion of the device shown in vertical section;

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional View taken on line 3 3 of Figure l.;

Figure -fl .is a side elevational View of the device in an inverted position;

Figure 5 is a vertical sectional view through he casing taken on line -E5 of Figure the mechanism being shown in edge elevation;

A.igure 6 a vertical sectional view through the casing of the device illustrating the opposite side of the mechanism from that shown in Figure ll;

Figure 7 is a horizontal on line l-l oi ore fl;

Figure El is an enlarged inverted vertical sectional vieW taken on line of Figure 7;

Figure 9 is fragmentary sectional view taken on line -S of Figure 2.

By referring to the drawings, it will seen that li;- designates a casing which is provided with a head portion il and a base portion l2. The head portion il is provided with a small bore aperture i3 which extends from the O15-.ter end of the head portion to the lower end of the depending neck lll thereof, for the purpose hereinafter described.

A suitable frame i5 is hung from the head portion il and carries a transversehheatending operating shaft l. This shaft it is provided with a notch, as at V, for receiving a springactuated latch i8. The latch lil holds the shaft against rotation when the latch i8 engages 1G the notch il. An operating knob l@ is carried sectional View taken A- dci) 2 by the shaft it, and a contracting coil spring is wound about the shank 2i of the knob lil. One end of the spring 2S is anchored to the shank and the other end is anchored to the This spring 2E is adapted ame l-Ei, as at 22. to accelerate the rotation of the knob l and the shaft iii in a clockwise direction when the latch l@ is released from the notch Il.

A ball or inissile-supporting nger 23 is fixed to the shaft i6 below the notch il', as shown in Figure 8, and normally projects beyond the central longitudinal axis and the aperture I3 of the head portion il, when the linger 23 is in a missile-supporting or engaging position. A bumper spring Ell is carried by the ball-engaging face of the linger 23 and a bumper spring 35 is carried by the reverse side of the linger 23 for providing a shock absorber to cushion the blow when the finger 23 is swung to a released position in contact with the abutment 2l of the frame i5, such as is shown in dotted lines in Figure 8.

A latch release rod Ell is carried by the head portion El and engages the latch l@ to control the release of the latch i8. A trigger lever 23 is secured to the upper end of the rod t8 and a spring 3s is carried by the rod 28 to return the rod 2Lito a lifted or returned position. The latch i8 is released from the shaft I to permit the spring 2li to rotate the shaft i6 by pressing down upon the trigger 29 and thereby moving the rod 2S and the outer end 3l of the latch I8 downwardly, the latch I8 being pivoted, as at 32.

The ball or missile E53 rests in a supported position upon the spring Ztl of the linger 23 in the manner shown in 8, and is moved to this position in the manner described in the following description. As the trigger 29 is depressed, the latch it is swung out of Contact with the notch il and the spring 23 accelerates the rotation of the .shaft it and the linger 23 is swung out of supporting contact with the ball or missile 33 at a relatively greater speed than the speed at which the missile drops, to drop the ball or missile 35 free from interference with the pull of gravity, to prevent deflection of the ball or missile 33 in its flight. The spring 2S rotates the shaft I6 to swing nger in contact with the abutment 2l to the dotted line position shown in Figure 8. This movement will instantaneously release the ball or esile and permit the ball 33 to drop in the action of the arrow and the dotted line position the ball A recording means 315 is carried by the base portion l2, and this recording means 3d may he made of any suitable material or combination of ma- 3 terials to cause a mark to be made upon the recording means when the missile 33 drops thereon after it is released by swinging the linger 23 to a releasing position shown in dotted lines in Figure 8. The recording means preferably comprises a fiat plate having a plurality of concentric circles spaced in degrees from the center thereof constituting a target to facilitate measuring the position of a mark made thereon by a dropping ball relative to the center of the target. The base portion l2 is provided with channeled anges 35 upon the inner or upper face of the base to slidably receive the edges of the recording plate 34 and anchor the same at both side edges and at the rear edge thereof. The plate 3d is provided with a forward lip 38 which is adapted to project through the aperture 3l in the casing lll and contact the inner face oi' the outer sleeve 38 which is rotatably mounted upon the casing lil, as set forth in the following description. rihe recording means or plate 34 may be provided with a thin sheet of carbon or other paper upon its outer face to provide a contact mark upon the plate 34 when the ball 33 strikes the plate. It is notdesired to limit the recording plate to any dei tailstructure as many variations may be provided without departing from the spirit of the invention.

The base portion li is provided with an inset peripheral channel 39 beyond the edge of the recording plate 84 and this channel SQ communicates with apertures d which lead to the chamber 4IV formed in the base portion il. The chamber 4| isprovided with a dished inner wall or bottom 42 which leads to an exit aperture 43. This aperture 43 leads to a cavity 44 at the bottom of the base portion l. A projecting rim 85 is formed around the outer` end of the exit aperture de to prevent the missiles from rolling back through the aperture 43 after being discharged therefrom. An inclined passageway 46 leads from the cavity 45 to the return tube 4'? which extends longitudinally of the casing ill and communicates with the inclined passageway 48 formed in the block 49 of the head portion l l. The passage- Way 48 leads from the tube 4'! to the ball or missile seat 58 at the inner end of the aperture E3, as shown in Figure 8. A transverse check shaft 5l is carried adjacent the passageway 43 and is provided with a notch 52 which, when in line with the passageway 48 will permit a ball to pass to the seat 50, but the check shaft 5l will obstruct the passageway 48 when the shaft is in the position shown in Figure 8. The notched shaft 5i is connected'to the shaft i6 by a link 58 which engages the arms 58 and 88, these arms being keyed to the respective shafts it and 5l, to cause the shaft 5l to close the passageway i8 at its discharge end when the shaft it is in a latchengaging and missile-supporting position shown in Figure 8.

The casing lil is provided with an aperture 3'! adjacent the base portion l2, which aperture 3l is so located as to facilitate the placing of the recording means or plate 38 in position and facilitate the removal of this plate. An outer sleeve 38 previously referred to fits snugly around the casing l 0 and is held in engagement therewith by means of a screw 6l which passes through a slot 62 in the sleeve 38 to limit the rotation thereof. The sleeve 38 is provided with an aperture 63 in the same horizontal plane with the aperture 3?, and this aperture E3 is adapted to be brought into registration with the aperture 3l by rotating the sleeve 38 upon the casing i8 in a clockwise direction when the device is in a position shown in Figure l. Then by reversing this turning movement the apertures may be brought out of registration, thereby closing the aperture 3l.

The casing lil is provided with an aperture 84 located in a position to permit access to the opera-ting knob i9 (see Figure 4) and the sleeve 38 is provided with a registering aperture 65 which is adapted to be brought into an overlying or registering position with the aperture-164 to permit an operator to actuate the knob I9. By means of this structure, the apertures 64 and 3'! may be opened and closed merely by rotating the sleeve 38 upon the casing I8 to a proper position. It should be understood that the casing lil and the sleeve 88 may be made of any suitable material preferably of metal, but the parts may be made of transparent plastic if desired, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

The lower end of the casing l0 is preferably closed by means of a closure means 6B of any suitable type.

The device may be placed so as to have the closure 86 rest upon an approximately horizontal support to determine the angle of deviation from the normal horizontal position, or the side of the device may be placed against a substantially vertical surface to measure the angle of deviation. The present device may be used in various ways to determine degree of tilt or angle of deviation from a normally level or upright position and may be used with many types of apparatus without departing from the spirit of the invention.

The purpose of the aperture I3 is to permit a slender rod to be inserted therethrough when the finger 33 is in the open position or dottedline position shown in Figure 8, such rod when Y passing through the aperture I3 being used to Gil determine the exact center on the base portion i2 when the position of such center is found necessary or desirable to locate the center of the base portion l2.

When the device is in a ball-dropping position, the casing l!) is placed in an upright position, such as is shown in Figures 1 and 2, and the sleeve 38 is rotated to align the apertures 64 and 65 so that access may be had to the knob i9. After the ball is dropped, the sleeve 38 is rotated to move the aperture 55 out of alignment with the aperture 64. After the desired recording has been made upon the recording means 34, the balls or missiles are dropped into the cavity 44 and the casing is then inverted to cause the missiles or balls to roll down through the tube 47 and passageway 48, one ball passing to a proper position upon the ball-receiving means or seat 58. The notched shaft 5I will permit only one ball to be fed at a time to the seat. After one ball has been fed to the seat position, the shaft I8 is rotated to swing the finger 23 to a ball-gripping position and the casing is then again inverted to bring the parts into the position shown in Figures 1, 2 and 8, or to a balldropping position.

Having described the invention, what is claimed is:

A missile-dropping device comprising a support having a missile seat, a spherical missile diametrically located extreme points at its upper and .lower ends in line with its vertical axis, the upper extreme point of said missile tting in said seat, a missile-supporting :linger pivotally supported upon said support .laterally of said seat, latching means for holding said finger in a missile-engaging position, said finger contacting only the lower extreme point of said missile, means for releasing said latching means, means for automatically swinging said finger away from said missile when said nger is re- 5 leased to drop the missile free from interference with the pull of gravity at the time of the release of said missile, and a missile-contacting spring carried by said linger and yieldably supporting said missile in engagement with said 10 seat.

FREDERICK H. HAGNER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the 15 le of this patent:

Number 6 UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Linsley Aug. 13, 1907 Schlieder Dec. 1D, 1907 Smith et al. Apr. 25, 1933 Crimp Jan. 12, 1934 Passler Nov. 19, 1940 Mullins Apr. 8, 1941 Wiley Dec. 22, 1942 Hagner Nov. 27, 1945 Brondon Apr. 30, 1946 Hagner June 1B, 1946 Hagner June 1:8, 1946 Hagner Nov. 19, 1946 

